Former South Sydney Rabbitohs winger Josh Mansour has added fuel to the fire at his former club by claiming under-siege coach Jason Demetriou was two-faced during his time at Redfern.
Mansour retired from the NRL at the end of the 2022 season after two years with the Rabbitohs, including a frustrating final season which saw him bounce around in first grade.
Now speaking on The Goodbye Tour Podcastthe former international opened up on Demetriou, who is under fire following South Sydney’s 0-2 start to the season.
The Rabbitohs went from being favorites for the 2023 premiership to missing out on the finals altogether, while club favorite Sam Burgess quit as assistant coach after reportedly clashing with Demetriou.
It was reported that Burgess’ concerns that players including Latrell Mitchell and Cody Walker were receiving preferential treatment fell on deaf ears at Redfern.
Mansour has now admitted that he didn’t get along with the coach either.
South Sydney coach Jason Demetriou is under fire due to an 0-2 start to the season after his side spectacularly crashed out of the 2023 finals.
Former South Sydney winger Josh Mansour has spoken about his time at the club, saying he clashed with Demetriou because he failed to deliver on his promises.
“I’ll be completely honest, I didn’t agree with the coach, with JD, which is a shame,” Mansour said.
“We just didn’t have a good relationship. Every time he spoke to me, he didn’t live up to what he said.
“I let it get to me. Once, twice, there were several conversations that didn’t go as he said.
“I am a man of my word. I held him in every conversation we had.
“I was frustrated man, I was so frustrated this last year.”
Former South Sydney assistant coach Sam Burgess (left) clashed with Demetriou (right) over special treatment given to players before ultimately leaving the club.
Mansour went on to explain how his interactions with Demetriou left him bitter and disillusioned because the coach had broken his word to play him as a freshman and had unfairly abandoned him for reasons he could not explain correctly.
The former Penrith star said Demetriou told him he was playing and then dropped him because he “needed a rest”, despite it being the first game of the year.
Later in the season, Mansour was sent off for missed tackles the previous week, but when asked to show him a video of what he had done wrong, the coach changed tactics and said that he was being demoted for things he did “weeks ago.” .
“I let all these situations get the best of me because you know why? I’ve always lived by controlling what you can control,” he said.
“I couldn’t control it and once again let my emotions get the best of me.
“I was just going through the motions, I didn’t care, I didn’t care, I just didn’t want to be there.
“I was just frustrated because if I wasn’t going to play there, why keep me there? I could have looked elsewhere and gotten a release or something.
“Just try something, try to find regular time in first year.
“But unfortunately I was stuck there.”
Rabbitohs supporters are growing increasingly frustrated with their club’s poor run of form and questions are being asked of the manager.
Now fans have praised Mansour for his honesty and for shedding light on what’s wrong with the Bunnies.
“It felt like a VERY honest interview. This actually helps to understand how the boys are playing at the moment and what Sam B meant by “special treatment”. » a fan posted.
“Players just want honesty and to be told where they are failing so they can improve and hopefully retain a place in first grade,” added another.
“JD’s days are numbered. I feel like he’s already lost the playgroup,” another posted.
Mansour then detailed some of these conversations and how they played out in the podcast.
Mansour would eventually retire from the NRL at the end of the 2022 season after becoming disappointed with the Rabbitohs.
After being assured of a round one spot to face the Brisbane Broncos in 2022, the winger was called into Demetriou’s office where he received the news he was “rested”.
‘I was like, give me some rest for that week? This is the first round. Why would you name me if you felt I needed rest?’ » said Mansour.
An ankle injury to Blake Taaffe meant Mansour would be a late recall to the side which lost to the Broncos 11-4, with the winger scoring Souths’ only points that evening.
He held on to his place as the Rabbitohs returned to form, winning three out of four games, including torching the Manly Sea Eagles 40-22.
However, during the captains’ race for the following week’s match, Mansour was again called into Demetriou’s office.
The frustrated winger said the coach tried to justify dropping him again due to two missed tackles against Manly, including a situation where the Sea Eagles had a four-on-two overlap on the short side.
Mansour detailed conversations in which Demetriou could not be honest with him
Despite his good form at the start of the season as part of a winning team, Mansour was still relegated to reserve status.
The other missed tackle came when Mansour pushed Reuben Garrick away before catching him and bringing him to the ground.
‘I say ‘do I get fired for this?’ » said Mansour.
“He just couldn’t answer me.
“He tried to rewind weeks ago, trying to show me my missed tackles.
“I ask myself ‘am I being dropped for my performance last week or am I being dropped for something that happened weeks ago?’
” He did not answer me. From that day on, I fully checked out.
“I slammed my chair and said ‘this is bullshit’ and walked out.”
Eventually, almost two months later, Demetriou broke the ice between them by telling Mansour he was about to be recalled, but then chose Izaak Thompson to make his debut instead.
The final insult came towards the end of the season when Demetriou decided to broadcast a recording of highlights of players leaving the club.
Mansour was first on the video, although he never signaled his departure or retirement.
“I wasn’t surprised by anything that happened before, but unfortunately it was a very sad time to leave Souths,” he recalled.